PartnerEngage: Symantec Launches Opportunity Registration Program, Digital Whiteboard

Symantec is giving partners new opportunities to register deals, make whiteboard presentations and reach out to customers with a myriad of newly unveiled program tweaks and marketing tools.

Randy Cochran, Symantec vice president of Americas channels, told partners about the launch of Symantec's new opportunity registration program Wednesday during the company's PartnerEngage partner conference held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The revamped opportunity registration program, which goes live Nov. 9, touts a simplified compensation model, increased discounts and provides a larger number of partners with the opportunity to register prospected deals that previously wouldn't have been able to be registered.

The new opportunity registration program also recognizes that not every partner who prospects an opportunity will be able to adequately serve the customer if they don't have certain specializations required for the deal, Cochran said. Subsequently, the new opportunity registration program enables solution providers to partner with other specialized Symantec solution providers possessing the necessary skill sets for required implementation services.

The unspecialized prospecting partner will receive an 8 percent discount and be the partner of record, while the specialized partner will receive the services revenue and a 5 percent backend rebate for his or her involvement.

Like the previous opportunity registration program, partners who register an opportunity will be the partner of record, and subsequently receive unique special pricing. However, Cochran told partners they'd have to work to earn the business, but he maintained that Symantec would protect the partner if they were staying engaged with the customer.

"This is not an entitlement. This has to be earned," he said. "The customer has to want to work with you. If the customer chooses to move, we will honor that move."

In addition to new channel program enhancements, Symantec also is making it easier for partners to pretend that they possess artistic talent on the whiteboard with the launch of a digital whiteboard.

"At Symantec, we whiteboard," said Michael Parker, Symantec vice president of digital marketing. "But as smart as we are technologically, we're lousy illustrators."

Like an iPhone, the digital whiteboard features a touchscreen that allows the presenter to zoom in and out, utilize drawing and navigation tools as well as ready-made icons, such as desktop computers. The whiteboard then enables the presenter to label the icons for reference.

"Rather than drawing, I'm dragging," Parker said. "Now we're great artists."

Next: Symantec Partners Can Upload Symantec Logo

The program allows the presenter to save the presentation as a PNG (Portable Network Graphics) file and store it in its own digital file, which can later be called up to add iterations. The new digital whiteboard, available for download from the Symantec site, is offered on both desktop and laptop computers. Another digital whiteboard application is currently under development for the Apple iPad.

During a PartnerEngage keynote, Tricia Atchison, Symantec senior director of product marketing, also announced the launch of the campaign creator marketing tool and the debut of the Symantec briefing center.

The campaign creator enables partners to upload the Symantec logo, available for upload through PartnerNet. Partners can then attach the logo to e-mail blasts, PowerPoint presentations and other applications, which are then sent out to customers.

"This is really marketing made easy," Atchison said.

In addition, Symantec announced the debut of its new briefing center, located in its Mountain View headquarters.

The new center allows partners to schedule in-person meetings with their customers, as well as have access to various technologies and product experts to add value to a presentation or sale.

Specifically, partners will have access to customized agendas and technology experts for deep-dive sessions. They'll also be able to schedule sessions with Symantec executives to help with strategic business discussions involving the customer or potential customer.

"When you bring a customer to the briefing center, you can increase deal size and shorten the sales cycle," Atchison said. "It's very tangible ROI."